Celebrating the Pony Express

Hooray for the Pony Express.
The "Passing the Legacy" statue is on the Scottsdale Public Art Walking Tour.

Doesn't it make you want to climb on the horse with them and gallop off into the old west?

The doors on the street

These giant doors on a Scottsdale sidewalk beckon a person in.









Inside, you stand in a starry kaleidoscope.

A fun bit of art on the street.

Soleri Bridge

Two silos?

Twin towers?

Bell tower?

Nope, it's the Soleri Bridge on the waterfront in Scottsdale.
Waterfront?  In the desert of Arizona?
Yes, that is apparently how they refer to the approximately 20 foot wide canal running through thes plaza area. 

Scottsdale public art.

Art, waterfront--it's all a matter of perspective.  

Cacti

A cactus is what you'd expect to see in the desert.
That there are so many different kinds of them, you might not expect.
Here are a few of them.

Desert Botanical Garden

There is a botanical garden in the desert of Phoenix.  If you are brave enough to face the heat, you can take a tour, or take a class.

You will for sure see lots of cacti.

But, no.  Those ones are not real.

Troll under the bridge

Under a bridge in Fremont, Washington
there lives a troll.







People come to climb on it.
Because "interaction with the troll is encouraged". 

This troll likes to crush cars.
That's a real volkswagen bug under there.

So people come.
To poke at his one hubcap eye.
Stick their arms in his nose.
Climb on his head.

He's a big troll, but not so scary.

Puget Sound

 Puget Sound was only ever just a...'sound'...to me.  It was something far away in a place I'd never been and didn't imagine to see.

Now its' a sight, and a memory.

I've ridden one of its ferries,
crossed some of its bridges,
and seen its sunsets.

It is a pretty part of the country.

Admiralty Head Light

The Admiralty Head lighthouse is one hundred and ten years old.  From 1903 it was lit for nineteen years before it was deactivated.

It's a pretty lighthouse on the Puget Sound where a friend took me to see some sights.

Climbing the stairs gives you a very nice sight indeed:  a view of the blue, blue sea.

Fort Casey

Looking over this grassy expanse toward the Puget Sound, you wouldn't think you were looking at massive military fortifications.

That's just what the enemy was supposed to think, too.
 Fort Casey was part of the plan to protect the western sea coast from invasion. It would have worked if airplanes weren't invented.

Today it's a huge park where people have picnics, fly kites and climb on the aging structures once meant to protect us.
I suppose an invasion by sea isn't so likely anyway.

Ferry to Whidbey Island

"Take a ferry to an island."
That was another piece of advice given to me when I asked about things to do in Washington.
And so I did.  I went to Whidbey Island on the Mukilteo ferry.

Parked with all the other cars...

...and on the 20 minute ride across the bay, there was just enough time to go out on deck to see the view.

Washington mountain vew

Wouldn't that be nice to see from your back patio every day? 

Pike Place

Whenever I asked someone what I should see or do while I was in Seattle, Pike Place was always on the list. 

Full of arts, history, produce and fish, it is a farmer's market unique to Seattle.

Piroshki

A good thing to eat in Seattle?
Piroshki. 

It's true, they are good.
I even caught a glimpse of them making the potato and cheese ones.












After you eat and enjoy them, you can get a t-shirt to show the extent of your enjoyment.

Look for it in Pike Place...the door is green.